Items by Jennifer Peebles

• Government agencies nearly double their attempts to withhold records: Report

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  From the Corpus Christi Caller-Times‘ Sara Foley: CORPUS CHRISTI — Requests that the Texas attorney general withhold information requested by the public increased 88 percent in five years, according to a Caller-Times analysis of state records. It’s a trend that open-government advocates say could indicate an abuse of the state system by [...]
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  Posted: December 12, 2009, 10:51pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Parker beats Locke in historic win in Houston mayoral runoff

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  City Controller Annise Parker has beaten former City Attorney Gene Locke in today’s runoff election to be Houston’s next mayor. According to my Twitter feed, the Chronicle called the race (via tweet, at least) around 10 p.m. tonight, saying Parker had an unbeatable lead with 88 percent of precincts reporting. As [...]
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  Posted: December 12, 2009, 10:39pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Local 2 fights for records from Metro detailing security camera outages

  —Texas Watchdog

  KPRC Local 2 here in Houston fought to get records from the Metro system showing routine outages of security cameras at Metro’s “park and ride” lots. KPRC investigative reporter Stephen Dean had a great piece on last night’s 10 p.m. newscast: HOUSTON — Internal records detail a daily list of camera [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 7:58am EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Gene Locke’s connections: An interactive chart

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  The Houston Police Officers Union, Metro, and Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander - mayoral candidate Gene Locke has connections to all of them. From the groups and political figures who have endorsed him to some of his largest campaign donors, Texas Watchdog lets readers take a look at some of [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 11:50am EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Annise Parker’s connections: An interactive presentation

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 4
  From her endorsements by the Fraternal Order of Police and former Mayor Kathy Whitmire to her major donors including law firm Fulbright & Jaworski, Texas Watchdog lets readers take a look at some of mayoral candidate Annise Parker's major connections in a new interactive chart. [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 11:43am EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston Mayor Bill White to run for governor? We’ve got the new candidate’s details

  —Texas Watchdog

  If you haven’t heard already, there’s more talk today that there’s a new face in the race for Texas governor, and it looks a whole lot like Houston Mayor Bill White. That’s the word from Chron.com as well as the Texas Tribune, with the word attributed in both cases to [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 1:59pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Tribune, Sunlight blog on publication of Annise Parker’s tax returns

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  We wanted to express our gratitude to both the Texas Tribune and the Sunlight Foundation for giving us shout-outs yesterday for our publication of Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker’s income tax returns. Thank you! [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 7:16am EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• A big welcome to the newly launched Texas Tribune

  —Texas Watchdog

  We wanted to tip our hat to a cool new site that launched today, the Texas Tribune. We (as in “we the people”) can’t have enough eyes on government these days, so we’re glad for their arrival. Like us, they’re a nonprofit operation. So check out their site when you [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 1:19pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Council candidate Noel Freeman filing ethics form — that leaves five candidates still missing

  —Texas Watchdog

  Noel Freeman, candidate for the City Council At-Large Position 4 currently held by Ronald C. Green, plans to get a copy of his personal financial statement to the city secretary’s office today — in fact, he may already have done so by the time you read this. You might have [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 3:36pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Pound signs (’#') on Twitter and what they mean

  —Texas Watchdog

  Are you tired of seeing “#txlege” and “#tcot” and “#txsboe” in Twitter messages and not being able to figure out what all this stuff means with “#” in front of it? I’ve got a quick-and-dirty explainer that you need to read — it’s my newest post for the Society of [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 2:33pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Grits for Breakfast: Texas AG Greg Abbott ‘thwarting transparency’

  —Texas Watchdog

  One of our favorite blogs, the law-related site Grits for Breakfast, is putting a whipping on Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for not making public records public in cases like school districts’ police forces’ use-of-force policies and the Cameron Todd Willingham execution case: There’s just no excuse for keeping these [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 1:38pm EST
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Six Houston City Council candidates still haven’t filed their ethics forms

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  Election Day is just around the corner — Tuesday — but still, six candidates for Houston City Council still have not turned in their personal financial statements, or, as I call them, “ethics forms.” C’mon, guys. Under state law, y’all were supposed to have filed by the 20th day after [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 3:44pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Hearing ‘State of Metro’ speech will set you back $65

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 3
  Want to know what the state of Houston’s Metro system is? It’ll only cost you $65 to find out! Yep, kids, that’s right — Metro Chairman David Wolff, who may not have a job for much longer, is going to give a “State of Metro” speech next Thursday, Nov. 5, and [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 3:13pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Spring schools dodge Dolcefino’s questions about $400K chess cruise

  —Texas Watchdog

  Don’t play games with taxpayers’ money — or with Wayne Dolcefino. Too bad the folks at the Spring Independent School District have been doing both. The district has coughed up about $400,000 in the name of teaching chess to the kiddos. Unfortunately, as Dolcefino reports at KTRK’s Web site, most of [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 11:59am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston City Council District D candidates’ ethics forms posted

  —Texas Watchdog

  We’ve got one more batch of ethics forms to throw at you today from candidates in the Nov. 3 Houston city election. This time, it’s candidates for City Council District D, for which incumbent Councilwoman Wanda Adams is running for re-election. We have ethics forms for two of the three candidates [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 10:30am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• More ethics forms: Houston City Council At-Large Position 4

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  We’ve also got ethics forms for the candidates for Houston City Council At-Large Position 4 for you this morning. This is the seat that Councilman Ronald C. Green is vacating due to term limits (he’s running for city controller instead). The candidates and their forms: Former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford Curtis [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 9:04am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms for Houston City Council District C

  —Texas Watchdog

  This morning, we’re bringing you ethics forms for the candidates for Houston City Council District C, where incumbent Anne Clutterbuck is running for re-election. Clutterbuck’s form is at these links: Part 1 and Part 2, and challenger Randy Locke’s form is at this link. [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 7:50am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics complaints filed over gifts to State Board of Education members

  —Texas Watchdog

  Texans for Public Justice has filed ethics complaints with the state over two State Board of Education members taking gifts from a firm that wanted to do investment-related financial work for the school board. The liberal watchdog group points back to the story broken by the Dallas Morning News about [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 9:36am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• More on Sports Authority bond problems

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  Ouch, ouch and more ouch — in the billfold — from this morning’s Chronicle in regard to an entity we’ve previously written about, the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority: Harris County taxpayers may have to inject up to $7 million a year into the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority for the next two [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 8:45am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms posted for Houston City Council District F candidates

  —Texas Watchdog

  This morning, we’ve got ethics forms for the candidates for Houston City Council District F — this is the seat that M.J. Khan is giving up due to term limits (he’s running for city controller instead). The candidates, and their forms: Peter Acquaro Joe Chow Lewis Cook Al Hoang Robert Kane Khalid Khan Mike Laster And remember, early [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 7:49am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms posted for Houston City Council At-Large Position 5 candidates

  —Texas Watchdog

  More ethics forms comin’ at ya for the candidates running in the Houston city elections on Nov. 3. Today, we’re bringing you the forms for City Council At-Large Position 5, where incumbent Jolanda Jones is running for re-election. The candidates, and their personal financial statements: Jack Christie Davetta Daniels Jolanda Jones (form Part [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 2:34pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Interest in Roy Morales’ interest, and Gene Locke’s potential conflict of interest

  —Texas Watchdog

  We’re sitting here tuning in to the final televised debate for the Houston mayoral candidates — live on KHOU-TV and on KHOU.com — but for your reading pleasure post-debate, a couple of watchdog links to share from the past few days regarding the candidates: First, BlogHouston knocked candidate Roy Morales [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 7:33pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Attorney-client privilege for governments hampers transparency

  —Texas Watchdog

  When you talk to a lawyer, your lawyer isn’t supposed to go blabbing to the world about the subject of your conversation. But what about a lawyer’s conversations with a client when that client is a government agency, supported entirely by the taxpayers, with taxpayers paying the lawyers’ salaries as well? [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 2:33pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms for Houston City Council At-Large Position 2 candidates

  —Texas Watchdog

  Today, we’re bringing you ethics forms for the candidates for Houston City Council At-Large Position 2. This is Sue Lovell’s seat, and she’s running for re-election (she is also city vice mayor pro tem). Andrew C. Burks Jr. M. “Griff” Griffin Sue Lovell (form Part 1 and Part 2) Roslyn “Rozzy” Shorter Election Day is [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 12:49pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas Watchdog’s Jennifer Peebles guest blogs for the Sunlight Foundation on Texas transparency

  —Texas Watchdog

  We want say thanks to the nice folks at the Sunlight Foundation — a nonpartisan nonprofit in DC working to help people get more information from Congress and the federal government — for letting me guest blog today about transparency issues in Texas and the work we’re doing here at [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 1:06pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston City Council At-Large Position 1: The ethics forms keep rolling along

  —Texas Watchdog

  The clock is ticking down to Election Day -- Nov. 3 -- and Texas Watchdog has more ethics forms for Houston City Council candidates. This time, we've got City Council At-Large Position 1.' [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 10:58am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms published for candidates for Houston City Council District A seat

  —Texas Watchdog

  We’ve got more ethics forms for candidates in the hot, hot, hot Nov. 3 elections (for which early voting is going on right now). This time, we’ve got the forms for candidates for City Council District A, where incumbent Councilwoman Toni Lawrence can’t run again because of term limits. Here [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 7:45am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms for Houston’s mayoral candidates

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  The race for mayor of Houston is at full boil, and Texas Watchdog has the details on where the candidates get their money — only this time, we’re not talking about their campaign cash. We’re talking about their jobs, their investments, the businesses they own, and the money they normally [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 8:58am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Local 2: Broken parking meters? That’s the ticket!

  —Texas Watchdog

  Broken parking meters may be causing some Houstonians to get ticketed downtown, according to a new piece aired tonight by KPRC Local 2 Investigates. Local 2 waded through almost 3,000 complaints filed with the city about meters on the fritz: This month, our cameras found what the records show. We [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 11:02pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics advocacy group includes Texas Watchdog in nationwide listings

  —Texas Watchdog

  We want to thank the folks at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for including Texas Watchdog in their new online directory of watchdog groups in the 50 states. They included us along with Common Cause of Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas and Texans for Public [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 4:51pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Stimulus data made public, but it won’t answer all your questions

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  If you’re wondering where your stimulus money is going in Texas, this post might tell you. Maybe. The federal government belched out a whole bunch of data today that’s supposed to tell us all where the stimulus money is being spent. Problem is, it’s 10 p.m. on the day the information [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2009, 10:37pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Mayoral candidates knock Metro for lack of openness

  —Texas Watchdog

  A lot is being said in the Houston mayor’s race about the city’s public transportation agency, Metro, and its accountability and transparency. That caught our attention — we’ve written a good bit lately about Metro, including the millions of dollars in no-bid contracts that it has doled out, how its [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 1:18pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Which Texas airports got federal grants? Online database has answers

  —Texas Watchdog

  On the heels of our post earlier this morning about salaries of the top execs at the Houston Airport System, here are some more transportation-related dollar figures: The folks at SubsidyScope have come out with a new database of payouts from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program. Some of [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 10:15am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Top earners at identified at Houston Airport System

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 3
  Twenty-one Houston Airport System workers made $100,000 or more last year, according to payroll data released to the public after Texas Watchdog fought for it. The city attorney’s office had argued that a list of airport system workers and how much they were paid last year should be kept private out [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 8:00am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Same song, 17th verse on open government in Corpus

  —Texas Watchdog

  I’m not even going to write an introduction to this one. I’m just gonna say two words for you: “Corpus Christi.” From the Caller-Times: CORPUS CHRISTI — The Corpus Christi Housing Authority board of commissioners discussed the defunct D.N. Leathers Townhomes project at its meeting Tuesday — but the public wasn’t [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 7:40am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• TPJ: Craddick illegally funnelled campaign cash to Bailey, Dukes, Pena, Flores

  —Texas Watchdog

  The liberal watchdog and advocacy group Texans for Public Justice has filed a complaint with the state ethics commission, arguing that former state House Speaker Tom Craddick illegally used a jobs-related political action committee as a back-door conduit to sneak money to four Democratic House members — one of whom [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 11:43am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Two interesting summaries of Texas open records laws

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  For all you government transparency fans out there: I wanted to share with everyone a couple of really interesting and informative handouts that I picked up in Austin at the recent conference for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. One is an overview of the Texas Public Information Act [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 7:29am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• More resources for following the transportation money

  —Texas Watchdog

  There are few facets of government that directly affect us as much as transportation spending — I mean, we’ve all got to get where we’re going, don’t we? That’s why looking at transportation funding is so dang interesting. The folks Pew Charitable Trusts and their partners, the Sunlight Foundation, have [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 12:16pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• New report out on Texas legislators’ campaign cash

  —Texas Watchdog

  Want to know more about who funded your state legislators’ campaigns last year? The research-and-advocacy group Texans for Public Justice has released its new Money in PoliTex report for the 2008 elections. Here’s just a taste — three of the report’s major findings: • The House’s 281 major-party candidates raised $70.3 [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 4:49pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• New Texas Watchdog story raises question: Why did Norwegians hire Houston airport executive?

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  For those of you who saw our latest story, regarding a Houston Airport System executive’s employment by a city in Norway, we wanted to take a moment and make one note to our readers. For our piece today, Texas Watchdog retained the services of Norwegian freelance journalist Jørn Wad. We thought [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 11:42am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Saba Abashawl’s Norwegian contacts

  —Texas Watchdog

  Appointments on the calendar of Houston Airport System executive Saba Abashawl regarding Norway, from late 2007 to early 2009. Texas Watchdog obtained access to her calendar under the Texas Public Information Act. (See PDFs of calendar files: 2007 / January-June 2008 / July-December 2008 / early 2009) Dec. 4, 2007: Attends [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 11:09am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• See how much Texas cities are spending to lobby Congress on transportation funding

  —Texas Watchdog

  Want to see how much your local officials are spending on to lobby the federal government on transportation issues? The Center for Public Integrity has an awesome interactive map as part of their new investigative report, The Transportation Lobby. The map lets you zoom in on your community and see [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2009, 7:30am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• The high cost of making it harder to get public records

  —Texas Watchdog

  Fort Worth Weekly has a great piece this week by Dan McGraw on how local governments are repeatedly punting open records requests to the state attorney general’s office, taking up everyone’s time and money — and effectively delaying the public in getting access to information. He brings up the subject [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2009, 9:52pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Nonprofit linked to Houston Airport System’s overseas work is not subject to public records law: AG

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  A nonprofit corporation through which the Houston Airport System builds and runs airports in other countries is not subject to the state’s Public Information Act and does not have to release its records to the news media, the Texas attorney general’s office has ruled. The HAS Development Corp., which is building [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2009, 4:41pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• New video explains Texas Watchdog’s interactive map of legislators’ ethics forms

  —Texas Watchdog

  If our latest story today on the spousal loophole piqued your interest in Texas politicians' ethics forms, we've got more from where that came from. See our latest how-to video on using our interactive map to research lawmakers' potential conflicts of interest.' [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2009, 4:11pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission ‘does see the light’ on transparency: Spokesman

  —Texas Watchdog

  A TABC spokeswoman responds to our piece criticizing the agency over transparency issues. [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2009, 1:51pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Federal appeals court lets Texas Open Meetings Act stand, dismisses lawsuit from Alpine officials

  —Texas Watchdog

  Good news from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in the Rangra v. Brown case: The Texas Open Meetings Act remains good law after withstanding a constitutional challenge by former city council members who asserted the law violated their rights to exchange e-mail messages discussing city business in [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 7:21pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission needs transparency

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  You would hope that a state agency that regulates alcoholic beverage sales would be as transparent as, say, vodka. (Or at least as translucent.) But the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is turning out to be as transparent as a pint of Guinness. The agency generally doesn’t get a whole lot of [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 2:04pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Blogger says stats show discrimination at Houston’s Metro system

  —Texas Watchdog

  Frioman at Politicafe says there’s discrimination afoot in Houston’s Metro system and displays stats (and multi-colored pie charts) saying that 80% of all Metro bus drivers are black, while just 18 percent of Harris County’s population is African-American. He says: Harris County residents (taxpayers) should demand an investigation take place and insist [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 12:59pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas legislators’ 2009 ethics forms published via interactive map

  —Texas Watchdog

  Ethics forms, campaign finance data, ethics penalties, wiki entries and biographical information for Texas' 181 legislators are woven together in Texas Watchdog's latest interactive map.' [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 9:55pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Fake Twitter account for traffic news has TxDOT in a lather

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  First, it was someone pretending to be Gov. Rick Perry’s hair on Twitter. Now, there are Dallas-area traffic updates being Tweeted by a fake TxDOT Twitter account — but TxDOT is much less amused than the governor. Mike Orren at Pegasus News writes that TxDOT started Twitter feeds to let [...]
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  Posted: September 03, 2009, 10:27pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Bracewell & Giuliani report out on Houston Airport System’s work overseas

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  This just in: The city has released the report by Bracewell & Giuliani law firm regarding the nonprofit created by the Houston Airport System to enable it to build and run airports in other countries. We’re making the report available now, and we’ll have more to come on it later. [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2009, 7:32pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• More Corpus Christi craziness on public records: You won’t believe what they want to withhold now …

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 4
  I’ve seen and heard a lot of people doing crazy things to withhold public records, but what I read this morning may just take the cake as the craziest one of all: A city government in Texas wants to keep confidential — get this — its policy on public records. [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2009, 6:03pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• New database shows how foreign governments lobby Texas’ Congressional delegation

  —Texas Watchdog

  There are some cool sites on the Web that let you look up who’s lobbying who in DC, but here’s something completely fresh and new: It’s a new site that lets you look up which foreign governments, agencies and entities are lobbying members of Congress. The new site is a [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2009, 2:27pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Husband’s bond work poses conflict for Kay Bailey Hutchison: AP

  —Texas Watchdog

  Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is angling to replace Rick Perry (and his Twittering hair) in the governor’s office, has a serious conflict of interest with her husband’s work as a lawyer working on bonds issued by local governments, the AP’s Jay Root reports (spotted via the Dallas Morning News): As [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2009, 9:00pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Controller: Airport nonprofit not subject to fiscal oversight

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  The HAS Development Corp. is not subject to financial oversight by the city of Houston, the city controller’s office said Friday, but nonprofit spinoff of the Houston Airport System could be using its city ties in its marketing in disregard of city policy. In a letter to Mayor Bill White and [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 3:29pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Airport nonprofit’s work mentioned in Houston mayoral race

  —Texas Watchdog

  The Houston Airport System’s work overseas building and running foreign airports was brought up in the city mayoral campaign today, the Chronicle’s Brad Olson writes tonight, as candidate Gene Locke took shots at one of his opponents, City Controller Annise Parker: Mayoral candidate Gene Locke sharply criticized opponent and City [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 11:30pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Swamplot spotlights our interactive map of Houston City Councilmembers’ ethics forms

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  We wanted to give a shout-out to the folks over at the esteemed Swamplot for blogging about our new interactive map of Houston City Councilmembers’ ethics forms. The map provides links to the forms as well as the councilmembers’ contact information, links to their official Web sites and links to [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 7:55pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• KHOU-Channel 11 interviews Texas Watchdog about airport investigation

  —Texas Watchdog

  Texas Watchdog’s Trent Seibert appeared on Houston’s KHOU-Channel 11’s 10 p.m. newscast Wednesday night to talk about our site’s reporting on the Houston Airport System and its overseas airport work. Also interviewed was City Controller Annise Parker, who has raised concerns about the city’s financial liability over its ties to [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 2:47pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Page 2: Nonprofit gave Canadian firm access to Uncle Sam’s money

  —Texas Watchdog

  Previous page: 1 On the morning of July 25, 2001, as City Council members assembled for their weekly meeting at City Hall, item No. 38 of the day’s agenda had already generated some interest among the panel. It was an ordinance that would approve the creation of HAS Development Corp., a new, [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 10:28am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Page 3: Nonprofit becomes linchpin in Ecuador deal

  —Texas Watchdog

  Previous pages: 1 / 2 There aren’t many things that Ralph Nader and the Heritage Foundation agree on. But they are of like mind on this: They both hate OPIC. That’s not OPEC, the consortium of Middle Eastern nations who can squeeze Houstonians’ pockets with the price of an oil barrel. We’re [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 10:28am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston’s Jackson-Lee pushes for transparency for private prisons

  —Texas Watchdog

  For those of you who have been following our stories on private prison contractor Geo Group: U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, a Houston Democrat, has introduced a bill in Congress that would make private prisons subject to the federal Freedom of Information Act if they are holding federal prisoners under contract [...]
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  Posted: July 03, 2009, 2:05pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Former airports chief: No nonprofit work done on city-funded $13K Libya trip

  —Texas Watchdog

  The former head of the Houston Airport System says he did not do business for a nonprofit airport construction-and-management firm he chaired while on a trip to Libya earlier this year that cost the city $13,000. Richard M. Vacar, who retired in May as the head of Houston's three commercial airports,' [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 2:50pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Vacar: City Hall signed off on $10,000 biz-class airfare

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from page 1) Vacar said Wednesday that all of his travel on behalf of the nonprofit was paid for by the nonprofit. Indeed, Texas Watchdog did see several records this week during its public document review that indicated HASDC and its affiliated companies picked up the tab for several trips [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 2:49pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Coming soon: Vacar says everything was above board

  —Texas Watchdog

  Update 5:26 p.m.: Story posted here. Coming very soon to TexasWatchdog.org: Former Houston Airport System chief Richard Vacar responds to Texas Watchdog’s story from Wednesday, addressing what we wrote about his trip to Libya earlier this year and the work he did for a nonprofit that builds and runs airports in [...]
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  Posted: June 26, 2009, 1:08pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston Mayor Bill White informed months ago of foreign airport projects; see ousted airport CEO’s five-figure expense reports

  —Texas Watchdog

  The mayor was told in mid-January 2008 that the airport system and its top officials were involved in airport projects world-wide. City brass knew at least one trip was paid for with taxpayer dollars. Airport CEO’s junkets included meeting in Nicaragua with former Communist strongman Daniel Ortega. [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2009, 11:07am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Mayor: Trips ‘don’t seem … out of line’

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from page 1) The records made public Wednesday shed new light on the depth of Houston officials’ involvement in the foreign airport project and the amount of time and energy they have devoted to their international work. The airport system’s top two officials, Vacar and Bartlett, made at least 14 trips [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2009, 11:07am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• ‘Next steps’: Nicaragua?

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from page 2) The records also show Vacar also traveled last November to Managua, Nicaragua, where he met with President Daniel Ortega — the former Communist strongman, now a democratically elected leader — to discuss the Houston airport system’s possible involvement in building a cargo airport in that Central American [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2009, 11:06am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Houston Airport System: Releasing salary list would make airports vulnerable to terrorists

  —Texas Watchdog

  In response to a request from Texas Watchdog, the Houston Airport System says releasing a list of how much employees make could compromise security at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airport. Was open government a casualty on Sept. 11? [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 7:49am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Protecting information, or hiding it?

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from page 1) This wouldn’t be the first time that government officials have waved the banner of homeland security to try to close off basic information that would have easily been deemed public before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Earlier this year, a federal court in California ruled that Santa [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 7:42am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Leavin’, but not on a jet plane

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from Page 2) The airport system’s boss, Richard Vacar, retired suddenly in May. While Vacar hasn’t said much about why he left, Mayor Bill White told the Houston Chronicle in an interview late last month that he had concerns about a nonprofit set up by the airport several years ago [...]
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  Posted: June 18, 2009, 7:40am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Nonprofit journalism discussions a highlight of investigative reporters’ conference

  —Texas Watchdog

  Watchdog journalism was the topic of the day — or more like three days — when the group Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. held its annual conference this past weekend in Baltimore. My boss, Trent Seibert, and I were in attendance. IRE always puts on an awesome conference, but this year’s [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2009, 4:41pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas Watchdog maps Corpus Christi codes fines debtors

  —Texas Watchdog

  The city of Corpus Christi is owed $5 million in unpaid codes fines — and Texas Watchdog has mapped the violations and posted an online spreadsheet of the totals. You may have seen our post from yesterday about the fines. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported on them and, using the Texas [...]
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  Posted: June 05, 2009, 10:03am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Public records show county owes Corpus City Hall $138K in fines

  —Texas Watchdog

  The city of Corpus Christi is owed some $5 million in unpaid old codes enforcement fines dating back to the 1970s — and guess who the biggest single debtor is. It’s Nueces County. Sara Foley, who does a great deal of digging on the government beat for the Corpus Christi [...]
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  Posted: June 04, 2009, 7:17pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Judge orders charter school to turn over records

  —Texas Watchdog

  From the Beaumont Enterprise: The Beaumont Enterprise is entitled to standardized test scores requested more than a year ago from a Port Arthur charter school, a district court judge ruled Friday. Tekoa Academy of Accelerated Studies must provide last year’s aggregated results from the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests, 172nd [...]
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  Posted: May 30, 2009, 7:40am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Button files corrected ethics statement noting $18K in dividends

  —Texas Watchdog

  New from the Ethics Commission today: State House freshman Angie Chen Button has filed a correction to her personal financial statement, noting that her earlier filing left off $18,000 in dividends and her service on some nonprofit boards. Here’s the Garland Republican’s corrected filing. [...]
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  Posted: May 26, 2009, 2:31pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms posted for Carona, Zaffirini, other lawmakers

  —Texas Watchdog

  Another batch of new ethics forms has arrived from the state Ethics Commission, including for Sens. John Carona, Judith Zaffirini and Eliot Shapleigh. [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 12:34pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Public records show Texas Tech uses live cats in medical training

  —Texas Watchdog

  Over the past few months, we’ve done an occasional series of posts about things you wouldn’t know about if it weren’t for public records laws. Like whether your kid’s high school’s football coach is applying for a job in another town. Or whether the local schools are using enough lettuce [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 11:35am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Journalists’ group weighs in on case that threatens Texas sunshine law

  —Texas Watchdog

  The Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press on Monday asked a federal appeals court to rethink an earlier ruling that could gut the state sunshine law — and could gut other states’ sunshine laws as well. The case comes out of Alpine, a tiny town in the Big Bend, where [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 8:04am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Galveston judge in sex case sentenced to 33 months

  —Texas Watchdog

  Federal judge Samuel Kent — accused of forcing himself sexually on women who worked for him, and then lying to cover it up — has been sentenced to more than two years in prison, the Chronicle reports. Congress could start impeachment proceedings against him Tuesday. [...]
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  Posted: May 11, 2009, 10:20pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• We are Marshall: Now, give us the school superintendent’s contract

  —Texas Watchdog

  The school system in Marshall, Texas, is apparently taking its cue from Houston’s Metro system: The school system isn’t releasing its contract with its outgoing school superintendent until after the super signs it. What’s even worse is that the superintendent isn’t bothering to tell the public how much he’s agreed [...]
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  Posted: May 07, 2009, 4:17pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Dewhurst shines a little more light on his vast fortune

  —Texas Watchdog

  With the filing of his new ethics form covering calendar year 2008, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has given more details about his personal finances than ever before -- but there are still a lot of holes to be filled in. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 6:09pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Dewhurst, Combs, Andrade, more lawmakers’ ethics forms published online

  —Texas Watchdog

  Texas Watchdog makes public 2009 ethics forms for a handful of statewide officials and nine state lawmakers. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 4:23pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms posted for lawmakers Flores, Geren, Gallegos, Allen Fletcher

  —Texas Watchdog

  New personal financial disclosure forms for Reps. Ismael "Kino" Flores, Charlie Geren and Allen Fletcher are in the newest batch of forms uploaded to the Web by Texas Watchdog. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 4:02pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Craddick, Christian, Button, Davis’ ethics forms posted

  —Texas Watchdog

  The former House speaker is among a batch of 13 additional legislators whose ethics forms Texas Watchdog is publishing today. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 3:41pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Kuempel, Madden, McCall, both Lucios’ ethics forms posted

  —Texas Watchdog

  Texas Watchdog makes public 15 more personal financial statements filed by lawmakers. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 3:16pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Financial disclosures posted for Huffman, Kent, King, Delwin Jones, other lawmakers

  —Texas Watchdog

  Next in line as Texas Watchdog posts lawmakers' 2009 ethics forms: State Sen. Joan Huffman and state Reps. Charlie Howard, Donna Howard, Jim Jackson, Delwin Jones, Carol Kent, Phil King, Mark Homer, Chris Harris, Will Hartnett and Abel Herrero.' [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 2:52pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Ethics forms posted for Seliger, van de Putte, Truitt, Thompson, other lawmakers

  —Texas Watchdog

  Texas Watchdog makes public another batch of new ethics forms for state legislators, including those for Sens. Leticia van de Putte, Kel Seliger, and John Whitmire, and several House members as well. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 2:37pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Gov. Rick Perry’s new ethics form published, among others

  —Texas Watchdog

  In keeping with our project last fall to post all 181 legislators’ personal financial statements covering 2007, we’re aiming to post all the new forms, too, covering calendar year 2008. We’re posting them in chunks as we get them from the state Ethics Commission and can get them uploaded onto [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 2:24pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• 2009 legislative ethics forms: Get ‘em while they’re hot

  —Texas Watchdog

  In keeping with our project last fall to post all 181 legislators' personal financial statements covering 2007, we're aiming to post all the new forms, too, covering calendar year 2008. We'll post them in chunks as we get them from the state Ethics Commission. Here are seven to start off' [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 2:04pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Two hurricanes kept Gov. Rick Perry busy in late 2008, calendar shows

  —Texas Watchdog

  The people Gov. Rick Perry has appointed to state board and commissions have collectively given him $5 million, the Houston Chronicle reported this morning. Take a deeper look into the governor's activities as Texas Watchdog posts his complete calendar for 2008. [...]
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  Posted: May 04, 2009, 12:49pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Wentworth, past FIOFT honoree, wants to keep governor’s security records secret

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 1
  State Sen. Jeff Wentworth is teaming up with the state police to help keep secret details of exactly how the state spends money on the governor’s security detail, the Chronicle’s R.G. Ratcliffe reports: The agency spent $252,000 protecting Gov. Rick Perry during a six-month period in 2007 that included trips to [...]
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  Posted: May 01, 2009, 4:40pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Texas Watchdog publishes Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s 2008 calendar

  —Texas Watchdog

  On the heels of the news that Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will reveal more in his new ethics form about his personal fortune over the year 2008, we shed more light on Dewhurst's activities by publishing his complete 2008 calendar for the first time. ' [...]
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  Posted: May 01, 2009, 8:29am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Probe to end soon over Dewhurst’s vague financial disclosures

  —Texas Watchdog

  Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is said to be worth $200 million -- and is one of the most powerful officials in the state. So, when you look at his 2008 personal financial disclosure form, what does it say about his fortune? Not much. [...]
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  Posted: April 30, 2009, 5:21pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• DNA to free another inmate in Harris Co., DA says

  —Texas Watchdog

  This time, it’s Gary Richard, who has been in prison for 22 years. He’ll have a court appearance on Thursday, where prosecutors will agree to allow him to be released on bond. Here’s the full presser from the DA’s office just now: DA to Seek Release of Inmate in Questionable 1987 [...]
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  Posted: April 27, 2009, 1:09pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Energy coalition pumps millions into Texas politics, gives to all 181 legislators

  —Texas Watchdog

  A new report by the nonpartisan National Institute on Money in State Politics — they’re the people who run FollowtheMoney.org — breaks down the money put into Texas’ political sphere by groups opposed to environmental legislation intended to stop global warming. Called Texas Tug-of-War, the report comes on the heels [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2009, 11:00am EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Personnel files in alleged ‘fight club’ case show value of public records

  —Texas Watchdog

  Number of comments: 2
  Government employees sometimes don't like it that the public can nose through their personnel records. But the recent reporting on the alleged "fight club" run by employees at a state facility for the mentally retarded in Corpus Christi shows why it's important for those personnel records to be public.' [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 12:46pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Freedom of Information foundation’s new director ‘moving on all fronts’

  —Texas Watchdog

  Longtime Austin newsman Keith Elkins looks to harness the power of social media to fight for freedom of information in Texas. Meanwhile, the legislature's efforts to close public records keep him busy at the Capitol. [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 4:08pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Elkins a presence at the statehouse

  —Texas Watchdog

  (Continued from page 1) His work at the Capitol, trying to win passage of bills that would open more records and defeat those that would close them, takes up a majority of his time these days as the legislative session begins a sprint to the finish line. In the past few [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 4:05pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles

• Elkins: ‘I’m not afraid of change’

  —Texas Watchdog

  Enclosure: [download]

  Number of comments: 2
  (Continued from page 2) An Austin resident since 1981, Elkins has been a newsman his entire adult life, except for about 10 years, during which time he did stints as communications director for the state comptroller’s office and the state lottery commission. “I’ve been on both sides,” he said. “I know what [...]
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  Posted: April 20, 2009, 4:03pm EDT
  by Jennifer Peebles